Baptism
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Ragetti talks Pintel into getting baptized.


"I can' believe I let ye talk me inta this!" Pintel grumbled softly, his arms crossed over his chest as he shot his younger companion a glare.

Ragetti merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he scratched his head for a moment, causing a few fleas to fall off from their hold on his hair and land on his jacket instead.

"I jus' worry about yer, Pinters." He pointed out shyly. "Wot wif yer no' bein' baptized an' all, aye?"

"Tha's because me mum gave us the choice ta do et an' I knew et was a bunch o' sh…"

"No' in fron' o' the church!" Ragetti scolded him, placing his hands on his hips as he glared down at his shorter friend.

Pintel went silent then and he muttered darkly to himself for a moment as Ragetti awkwardly tried to make himself look smarted up; moving the grimy locks of what was supposed to be blonde hair away from his one good eye before he then popped out his wooden one for a moment, rubbing it onto his sleeve before popping it back in with a smile.

"'ow do I look?" he asked with a hopeful smile as he spread his arms out wide.

"Loik an idjit wot is tryin' ta make me git splashed wif wata fer some daft reason!"

"Et's no' daft!" Ragetti shouted in anger now, stomping one foot on the ground as if he were a child. "Naow come on then! The sooner we go an' git ye baptized the sooner we kin leave an' drink ta celebrate, aye?"

Pintel brightened up at this little offering and he nodded as he rubbed his hands together for a moment.

"So long as yer the one buyin' 'em!" he said.

Ragetti laughed softly and he nodded as he opened the door to the small and mostly deserted church.

Considering the fact that the church was in Tortuga, it was lucky enough to still be standing in one relative piece, but then again the priest who ran it had once been a pirate who had decided to devote his life to doing the Lord's work; and according to Father Culley, (who had once been known as Cutthroat Culley in his pirating days), beating the snot out of anyone who tried to rob from the church was part of the Lord's work as well.

Father Culley was waiting for them at the altar, a basin of holy water resting in front of him. He smiled a little when he saw Ragetti coming in with Pintel in tow and he gave the young pirate a wave in greeting.

"Finally got him to get it done, eh?" he laughed, noting the scowl on Pintel's face as Ragetti soon had him over at the altar with a goofy smiled plastered on his frail body as he nodded.

"Aye, bu' I 'ave ta buy the rum tanigh' ta make et up ta 'im!" he said with a laugh.

"I still say this is all a bunch o' bollocks." Pintel grumbled. "Et's nuffin' bu' wata gittin' splashed on yer 'ead."

"Et's 'oly wata." Ragetti argued with his hands once more on his bony hips. "Et's differn' than usual wata! Naow come on, the sooner ye stop bein' a stoopid blighter an' jus' git et done the sooner we kin go ta the pub, aye?"

"Yer the one bein' the blighter 'ere." Pintel snorted, giving up with a shake of his head now.

Father Culley couldn't help but laugh softly at the two's antics and he merely shook his head for a moment. Out of all of his years out pirating and then living here as the only priest in all of Tortuga; he could honestly say that he had never met such an odd pair of friends such as these two.

Despite his gruff and less than friendly demeanor, Father Culley could tell that Pintel would do anything just to make Ragetti happy and this seemed to include swallowing down his own ideas about religion and get baptized.

"Right, well let's get started then shall we?" he asked, clearing his throat to help stop the fighting.

Ragetti stopped then and he turned back to Father Culley with a smile, nodding a bit as he rubbed his false eye for a moment.

"Sorry, father." He mumbled softly. Pintel rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Anyway, since your friend here is the one getting baptized, then that means you're the one who has to name him since you're baptized." Father Culley explained calmly. He then paused for a moment in thought.

"You ARE baptized right, Ragetti?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. Ragetti smiled and nodded proudly.

"Aye, twas done after I was born!" he said.

"Oh good…"

"Me mum did et fer me a few 'ours later!" he added happily.

Even though Pintel did not find religion or the idea of God all that appealing, he could not help but share the same confused look that Father Culley gave to Ragetti then.

"Your…mom baptized you?" Father Culley asked. Ragetti smiled and nodded for a moment then, looking from Father Culley to his friend Pintel.

"Aye, she didn' even bother ta take me ta a church or nuffin!" he said simply. "I was real sick when I was born, ya see…Me mum though' I was goin' ta die afore I could git done proper so she took a mug o' rum an' said a prayer an' poured et on me 'ead!"

Pintel snorted softly, covering his mouth with one hand to try and hide his laughter.

"And…she never took you and had it done in a church afterwards?" Ragetti looked at the two of them in confusion as he shook his head.

"Me mum said tha' et didn' matter." He explained calmly. He then blushed for a moment as he thought about this. "Does tha' mean et don' coun'?" he asked a little sadly.

"No wonder ye drin' rum loik a bloody fish!" Pintel snickered.

Ragetti soon had a dejected look as his shoulders slumped, but Father Culley merely smiled and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter." He assured him gently. "I'll just baptize the two of you together."

Ragetti brightened up and he smiled and nodded.

"Fanks, father."

Father Culley nodded and he then started with the little ceremony, holding a hand over the water for a moment to bless it before he then took up a seashell and dipped it into the water. He looked up at the two of them, cocking an eyebrow slightly to see which one wanted to go first.

Pintel immediately pointed at Ragetti who smiled weakly for a moment before he then slowly bent his head forward slowly, wincing as his eye fell out of his socket and landed with a splash into the basin.

For a moment all three of them stared at the floating wooden appendage before Father Culley sighed and merely went on with the ceremony.

"In the name of Our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ; I baptize you and call you…" There was a pause as he waited for an answer, the shell poised over Ragetti's greasy hair.

"This is where you say your name." he said softly.

"Oh! Righ'." Ragetti blushed then as he quickly snatched up his wooden eye, keeping his head bent over.

"Mackenzie Ragetti." He said and as Pintel laughed at his name Father Culley poured the holy water onto the top of his head and Ragetti stood up straight with a smile, looking at Pintel with a smug grin.

"S'easy, Pinters." He said simply.

"Wotever you say…Mackenzie!" Pintel snickered as he lowered his head for his turn.

When it was time for him to say his name however, Pintel hesitated.

"Aw come on, Pinters!" Ragetti laughed softly. "Ye've got such a noice name!"

Pintel mumbled it, and Father Culley cocked an eyebrow slightly for a moment.

"What?"

"I said…Beverly Pintel." Pintel muttered darkly, almost daring one of them to laugh at his name.

Father Culley bit his tongue as he poured the water onto his bald head and when he was done he suddenly burst into laughter with Ragetti then.

"Beverly!?"

With a huff Pintel headed for the door, muttering darkly to himself.

"Oy! Wait fer me!" Ragetti called after him. He paused for a moment and he smiled at Father Culley for a moment as he made a clumsy bow.

"Fank you fer savin' me friend!" he said and with that he was out the door, following his older and much grumpier friend to the nearest pub.


End file.
